Did Dodgers just name Vin Scully’s heir apparent with Joe Davis hire?

Here’s a tag you wouldn’t wish on a budding young announcer: the next Vin Scully!

Following in the footsteps of legends can prove to be a perilous and unappreciated journey. Anyone remember who followed Vince Lombardi? It was Phil Bengston. Gene Bartow went 52-9 following John Wooden and UCLA threw a party when he left.

But Scully, who turns 88 this month, is going to retire one day and has said the coming season will probably be his last. Someone is going to have to pick up the microphone after him. And seemingly, the Dodgers have now identified his heir apparent.

Wednesday, the Dodgers announced that Joe Davis, 27, would join their television broadcast team next season.

Davis is scheduled to call 50 road games on television. The remaining road games will fall to Charley Steiner, who otherwise will be in the radio booth. Scully does home games.

It’s the smart move by the Dodgers. They get a year of watching Davis up close, and if he works as hoped, he could take over for Scully whenever he does retire. If Davis doesn’t measure up, he can be shown the Eric Collins route out of town and the Dodgers can move on to some Plan B.

So who’s Davis?

The Dodgers call him “one of the most impressive broadcasting talents on the national scene.� He currently does play-by-play for Fox on baseball and college football and some basketball. He will continue to work for Fox next season.

He has that classic broadcaster’s voice and has put together an impressive resume for one so young.

A native of Potterville, Mich., he graduated from Beloit College, a small liberal arts school in Wisconsin. He played quarterback (1,621 passing yards) for two years at the NCAA Division III school before a shoulder injury forced him to move to wide receiver his final two seasons.

At Beloit, he announced the school’s basketball and baseball games. After graduating, he spent one season doing play-by-play for the independent Northern League Schaumburg Flyers baseball team and three for the Double-A Montgomery (Ala.) Biscuits, a Tampa Rays affiliate.

By age 24 he was working for ESPN, covering a variety of college sports, and he was on the fast track.

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“Joe Davis has put together an outstanding play-by-play resume,� Dodgers Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Lon Rosen said in a release. “We are thrilled to have one of the top young sports broadcast talents in the nation join our great television team.�

Davis received a congratulatory phone call from Scully on Tuesday night and one from Steiner on Wednesday morning.

His Fox baseball reel can be heard/viewed here.

Follow Steve Dilbeck on Twitter @SteveDilbeck

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